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readmore's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
julie7's review against another edition
4.0
I'm giving this 4* but for me it was 3.5*.
It started off well, dipped in the middle and was good at the end.
Very descriptive and a little spooky at times. Quite deep and not a quick read, if this is what you prefer.
It started off well, dipped in the middle and was good at the end.
Very descriptive and a little spooky at times. Quite deep and not a quick read, if this is what you prefer.
ladyjaneofaragorn's review
3.0
3 stars
I loved the second book so much that I bought the third one right away. Besides the case, we are following the lives of the CID officers and I found their lives interesting.
However, in this book, almost all of the officers are unlikeable. In the second book, yes, they were sometimes annoying. But in this book, I hated them. Especially Snowman and Sellers. The policemen here are misogynists, arrogant, insensitive, jumping to conclusions right away to make things easier. The only police officer I liked here was Simon. And Charlie, although I was annoyed with her sometimes, too.
And it's ironic because the author is a woman and yet, the male characters in this book looked down on women and are so very proud of themselves. And it was voiced that women who stay at home don't need a vacation. Like hell, is it that easy to stay at home and take care of kids and a husband who acts like a kid? (My partner and kid are both wonderful. This isn't personal as my partner doesn't act like a kid, unlike some of the men in this book.) Nick was a horrible husband and yet, Sally doesn't really, as in really, tell him to grow up and change his ways. Sam wonders why his stay-at-home wife is more tired than him at the end of the day. Sellers and the Snowman think wives should not be insecure or do anything to feel more confident, and yet, Sellers is having an affair with a younger woman. It's been a long time since I last read a book with horrible, annoying, unlikeable characters.
That thing with Stacey was convenient to how they solved the case and the reason why she came to Charlie's house wasn't brought up again. It was brushed away.
The redeeming part was the plot and the twists. They were cleverly put and placed and I didn't see them coming.
But, Sophie Hannah has a way of SHOWING the reader that the police has solved the mysteries and the case and then TELLING how they solved it. It would've been better if it was the other way around.
I have books 5, 6, 7, and 9 and I think I will read them in the future but might not bother to buy the books in between that I don't have.
It's frustrating as the plot was good but the characters were just not very kind or nice. Even the side characters were not likeable.
I loved the second book so much that I bought the third one right away. Besides the case, we are following the lives of the CID officers and I found their lives interesting.
However, in this book, almost all of the officers are unlikeable. In the second book, yes, they were sometimes annoying. But in this book, I hated them. Especially Snowman and Sellers. The policemen here are misogynists, arrogant, insensitive, jumping to conclusions right away to make things easier. The only police officer I liked here was Simon. And Charlie, although I was annoyed with her sometimes, too.
And it's ironic because the author is a woman and yet, the male characters in this book looked down on women and are so very proud of themselves. And it was voiced that women who stay at home don't need a vacation. Like hell, is it that easy to stay at home and take care of kids and a husband who acts like a kid? (My partner and kid are both wonderful. This isn't personal as my partner doesn't act like a kid, unlike some of the men in this book.) Nick was a horrible husband and yet, Sally doesn't really, as in really, tell him to grow up and change his ways. Sam wonders why his stay-at-home wife is more tired than him at the end of the day. Sellers and the Snowman think wives should not be insecure or do anything to feel more confident, and yet, Sellers is having an affair with a younger woman. It's been a long time since I last read a book with horrible, annoying, unlikeable characters.
That thing with Stacey was convenient to how they solved the case and the reason why she came to Charlie's house wasn't brought up again. It was brushed away.
The redeeming part was the plot and the twists. They were cleverly put and placed and I didn't see them coming.
But, Sophie Hannah has a way of SHOWING the reader that the police has solved the mysteries and the case and then TELLING how they solved it. It would've been better if it was the other way around.
I have books 5, 6, 7, and 9 and I think I will read them in the future but might not bother to buy the books in between that I don't have.
It's frustrating as the plot was good but the characters were just not very kind or nice. Even the side characters were not likeable.
brandiemetzger's review
3.0
I'd give this book 3.5 stars. To me it wasn't predictable and kept me guessing, and was at times kinda confusing to keep all the characters straight. There was a lot of stuff I felt was unnecessary and could have been left out, and I didn't like the ending.
But I did enjoy the suspense and mystery in this book. It kept me guessing.
But I did enjoy the suspense and mystery in this book. It kept me guessing.
pixieauthoress's review
4.0
I really enjoyed my first Sophie Hannah novel - can't wait to read more of her books! I've recently been reading quite a few thrillers but I think I'm going to tone it down a bit and rebound on chick-lit as they can be quite sad sometimes. As much as I enjoyed this book and didn't want to put it down (as I wanted to know who killed Geraldine and Lucy) I hated to read about Sally when "Mark" kept her prisoner and wanted to get her pregnant with his child. And "Geraldine's" diary entries horrified me - there was a part where she said she wanted to tell infertile women how lucky they were. How can anyone say something like that? I would be devestated if I found out that I couldn't have children; no matter what happens in my life, I would give up everything to get married and have a child. So that particular comment struck home. Anyway, the mystery was really intriguing and the best part of the book (even if parts of the plot were a bit upsetting) but I didn't feel like I really knew any of the characters properly, except for Sally. Overall, 8/10.
morleymathers's review
3.0
Good twists and turns in this one. Fairly well written but a little far fetched. Escapism.
bookworm72's review
5.0
No idea why the book description comes up in German on this app, but I did read it in English and it was brilliant! Lots of twists and turns along the way, hard to put down, finished in 24 hours! Recommended if you like crime fiction.
lu_wilson's review
1.0
Have just finished this book and if I had to describe it in one word it would be disappointing. I came across this book by chance and read very good reviews of it, along with details that this was to be turned into an ITV mini-series. I love crime thrillers and always want to read books before seeing the TV shows/movies so had to buy a copy. From the synopsis, this should have been a very good read: Sally a busy mum, takes a secret break from family life at a spa and has a brief affair with a man called Mark Bretherick. A year later when watching the news with her husband, she hears that Bretherwick's wife and daughter are both dead. However, the picture of Mark Bretherick on the news, is not the man that Sally had an affair with. Sounds gripping, right? Wrong! I just couldn’t get into the characters. They did not seem real and Sally and her husband were quite annoying. Without meaning to give too much away, how can Sally, who has been held prisoner, escape, then nip back to the place she is being held to have a shower and change of clothes before escaping again? And how can her husband just accept that Sally knew the man that had abducted her and honestly believe they spent a secret week at a spa ‘just talking’ and did not have an affair?! [return]The plot line seems to jump from character to character making it confusing and difficult to follow and the two main police characters investigating these crimes, Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer seemed very fake. There was a constant reference to something happening the year before, but no further details, which was very frustrating. I have since found that this is the third crime book written by Sophie Hannah, and is actually a series based around Simon and Charlie. However, none of the books hint at this in the synopsis and neither does Hannah’s own website. If I had known this, then I would have read the first two books before this one and maybe I would understand the history behind Simon and Charlie a bit better. But with the way this has been written, something inside me says I won’t……..[return]I really wanted to like this book but it was a let down. I may try another Hannah book from the library, but I certainly wont buy it.